Eliott , George Augustus , 1770-1790 , 1st Baron Heathfield , General

George Eliott, son of Sir Gilbert Eliott, 3rd Bt., of Stobs, descended through four generations from a younger branch of the Minto family, received a French military academy training and fought on the Continent at an early age with the Prussian army. After training as a field engineer, he served during the War of 1739 to 1748 in the British Army, becoming a captain in 1745 and a lieutenant-colonel in 1754. During the Seven Years War he was present at the capture of Havana. In 1774 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the forces in Ireland and the following year he went out, as Governor, to prepare Gibraltar for the threatened attack from Spain. This did not come until 1779. From then until 1783 the Rock was under constant siege, being relieved on three occasions. For his skilful defence Eliott was raised to the peerage in 1787.